TuesdayMarch 03,2015

Big catch of banana fish

On May 22 at the Toya fishing port in Yomitan, a fishing boat brought in a large catch of banana fish (photograph taken by Wakako Oshiro)

May 23 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo

On May 22 at the Toya fishing port in Yomitan, there was a large catch of banana fish, known locally as gurukun, the prefectural fish of Okinawa. This catch is said to signal the arrival of summer. The total weight of the catch amounted to three tons, the largest ever to date. People involved in the fishing industry said, “It was a real surprise to catch such a huge amount of fish.”

The banana fish, which have a characteristic yellow double-line on their pink colored body, were caught off the Toguchi district of Yomitan in fixed nets set by the Yomitan Fisheries Cooperative Association. According to a representative of the association, this is the largest number of these fish ever caught at one time since 1992 when the association first set up the nets. The catch usually amounts to just several dozen kilograms and the previous largest amount was 300 kilograms recorded on May 11 this year.

According to the association representative, the daily catch amounts to around 100 kilograms for the entire the prefecture. Akira Maeda of the association, said, “It is definitely the largest catch of banana fish in the history of Yomitan. Even though we thought that we had already caught lots of these fish this year, this catch really surprised me. We would like people to eat the banana fish raw and sliced while it is still fresh, but it also tastes good grilled.”

Large banana fish measuring 25 centimeters in length and weighing 250 grams were landed on this occasion. Auctions were actively conducted at the port and the fish were dispatched to supermarkets all over the prefecture. Iyu, a direct sales store in the port, started selling the fish at a very reasonable price.